Data communication networks exchange user data for user devices like phones, computers, and machine transceivers. The user data might be audio/video, email, web content, software, or files. The user devices are typically phones, computers, machines, and the like. The data communication networks use Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) servers to exchange the user data.
A Management and Orchestration (MANO) system drives the NFVI servers to execute Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) to exchange the user data. The VNFs typically comprise network elements or components of network elements that may include Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystems (IMS), Internet Protocol (IP) routers, Ethernet switches, and the like. In Software-Defined Networks (SDNs), the VNFs may comprise SDN applications, SDN controllers, and SDN virtual data machines.
VNFs executing in NFVI servers process communication requests from user devices for various communication sessions. The communication requests might be wireless attachment data, layer 2 information, internet messaging, or some other instruction. Exemplary session requests include Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Non-Access Stratum (NAS) data, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messaging, Session Description Protocol (SDP) fields, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, IP ports, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) labels, or some other request signals.
In response to a communication request, control VNFs select a network bearer for the communication session. For example, a base station VNF and a network gateway VNF may select a network bearer having three data-handling VNFs. In LTE networks, the control VNFs usually identify Access Point Names (APNs) for the communication sessions and use the APNs to select gateway VNFs.
The data communication networks also use hardware trust servers to maintain hardware trust in network elements and user devices based on trust codes that are physically embedded the network elements and user devices. To maintain hardware trust, the trust server issues trust challenges, such as random numbers, to the network elements and user devices. The network elements and user devices hash the challenges with their own physically-embedded trust codes to generate and respond with trust results. The hardware trust server then verifies these physically-embedded trust codes by hashing the random numbers and their own version of the trust codes to generate matching trust results.
Unfortunately, the NFVI servers and the MANO systems have not been effectively integrated with the hardware trust servers. The NFVI servers, MANO systems, and hardware trust servers do not efficiently establish hardware-trusted network bearers for user devices. Hardware trust servers do not efficiently trust network bearers that comprise NFVI/VNF pairs, as well as, other network elements and user devices.